Littlepage-Buggs Explodes for 25 in Season-Opening Win

Thursday, November 7

Waco, Texas

7 PM

Baylor

1-0,0-0Big 12

Incarnate Word

0-2,0-0Southland

UIW

Baylor

Littlepage-Buggs Explodes for 25 in Season-Opening Win

11/7/2024 8:52:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Game Book

By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider

WACO, Texas – Through her first two years at Baylor, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs has seen her teammates launch 1,475 3-pointers and knock down 489 of them, celebrating each one.

In Thursday's season opener at Foster Pavilion, "Buggs" hit her first two 3-pointers (2-for-5) and scored a game-high 25 points to help the 12^th-ranked Baylor women (1-0) blow out Incarnate Word, 85-33.

"This was the missing piece," Baylor coach Nicki Collen said of Littlepage-Buggs' game that includes moving the ball, attacking the glass, driving the ball and running the floor. "She's worked really hard at it, and I think you saw her joy, but you also saw her teammates' joy, because she's celebrated a lot of 3's by her teammates. It was fun to see them celebrate hers'. I knew that when she made one, there would be a different confidence level."

That's the last thing the rest of the Big 12 wants to hear. The 6-1 junior forward averaged 10.6 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 52.1% from the field and over 70% from the line in her first two seasons but was 0-for-8 from outside the arc.

"I know everybody always says, 'Bella and Buggs! Bella and Buggs!''' said Bella Fontleroy, who had nine points, two steals and a block to go with a career-high 14 rebounds, "but I really do love her. That's my buddy. And I was super proud. I don't know if y'all saw me on the other side, but I think that's one thing we do really well as a team is we celebrate each other. Every single person on our team had impactful stat lines in different areas."

Fontleroy did the bulk of her scoring in the first quarter, scoring five of Baylor's first seven points, but it was three-straight buckets by Littlepage-Buggs that got the slow-starting Bears going and gave them the lead for good.

While Fontleroy hit just 4-of-14 overall and 1-of-8 from 3-point range, "the more shots she missed, the harder she played in every other area," Collen said. Her previous high was 11 rebounds, a mark she matched for the fourth time in last year's NCAA tournament opener against Vanderbilt.

"Bella is such a good 3-point shooter, and when she's not shooting it well, she can get in her head, she can get frustrated," Collen said. "I saw those moments, but I thought that she turned those into making defensive plays, steals, offensive rebounds. . . . I just thought she was a menace on the glass, and she was coming from all over."

Colorado transfer Aaronette Vonleh, who had hit just 2-of-15 from 3-point range in her first three collegiate seasons, knocked down her only long-range attempt of the night early in the second quarter to give the Bears their first double-digit lead, 24-12.

"I try to be nonchalant, but in my head, though, it was nice," said Vonleh, who scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field, "because I spent a lot of time in the offseason working on my 3. To see it go in just builds that confidence. So hopefully, that's the first of many."

Led by Vonleh and Littlepage-Buggs with nine points apiece in the period, Baylor outscored Incarnate Word, 26-9, in the third quarter and then held the Cardinals without a field goal for almost seven minutes of the fourth.

Fontleroy's efforts on the boards helped the Bears dominate the rebounding battle, 47-22, and outscore the Cardinals, 13-0, on second-chance points off 13 offensive boards.

"When she goes up in the air to get the ball," Collen said of Fontleroy, "there is no one more sure-handed at bringing it in, because she has the ability to jump but also the strength, the ball doesn't get knocked out of her hands very often."

"Since I've been here at Baylor, that's been the reason I've been on the court," Fontleroy said. "Freshman year coming in, I didn't understand the schemes as well, but I feel like I've always just tried really hard to give effort and make those plays. And I feel like it's a lot easier now that I know where I need to be in our rotation, knowing that I have help side if I get beat on a drive, just knowing that I have support from my teammates."

Point guard Jada Walker only took one shot for the game, but she was 6-of-6 from the line and added 10 assists and two steals.

After struggling against the zone last year, Walker "got better and better as the night went along" against Incarnate Word's 2-3 zone "in terms of finding people on the diagonal, on the kick-out, in transition, in the zone."

"It's like she's got to find ways to not just be a 3-point shooter against the zone," Collen said. "I thought she did a really good job tonight."

Fifth-year senior guard Jana Van Gytenbeek had an efficient game with 10 points, five assists, one steal and only one turnover in 16 minutes before being helped off the floor late in the third quarter with an apparent injury to her left leg.

"She's been evaluated," Collen said.

Junior center Kyla Abraham had one of her best games in a Baylor uniform with six points, four rebounds and two blocks. After missing the exhibition game and most of the preseason with an injury, fifth-year forward Madison Bartley got in the game in the fourth quarter and finished with three points and three rebounds in six minutes.

Brynn Lusby led the Cardinals (0-2) with 10 points and three boards, but she also had three of Incarnate Word's 24 turnovers.

Baylor will go on the road to face Oregon (2-0) at 9 p.m. CT Sunday in Eugene. The Ducks, who had a down 11-21 season last year, defeated California Baptist, 93-63, and then Nevada, 76-58.

No. 12/12 Baylor (1-0) 85, UIW (0-2) 33
Waco, Texas (Foster Pavilion)
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024

The Bears opened their 50^th season with the win over UIW, a team that won 19 games a year ago and advanced to the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
Baylor won its 15^th consecutive season lid-lifter on Thursday night and have not lost a season opener since 2009.
Baylor has won 20 consecutive home openers, dating back to 2005-06.
The Bears won their second all-time meeting with UIW, also besting the Cardinals in 2022, 71-42.
The Bears are 8-2 all-time at the sparkling new Foster Pavilion.
Aaronette Vonleh is 25 points shy of 1,000 in her career.
Vonleh reached double figures in points for the 56^th time in her 86-game collegiate career.
In her BU debut, Vonleh had 16 points and three rebounds in 21 minutes, connecting on 6-of-8 from the field and sinking one triple.
Sarah Andrews needs 29 assists to reach 500 in her career, which would be top five in program history.
Andrews needs 19 3-pointers to break the all-time Baylor record.
Andrews had five points, four assists and two rebounds in 25 minutes.
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs reached double figure scoring for the 38^th time in her career and for the fourth consecutive game.
Littlepage-Buggs has five career games with 20+ points.
Littlepage-Buggs had 25 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes, and tied her career high with 18 field-goal attempts, making 11.
Littlepage-Buggs hit her first two career 3-pointers on 2-of-5 from behind the arc.
Head Coach Nicki Collen is 75-28 in her fourth season leading the Bears.
The Bears are 41-10 under Collen at home.
Baylor is 69-6 when leading at half under Collen.
Baylor is 19-3 under Collen in the month of November.
Baylor is 25-0 under Collen in games decided by 25+ points.
Baylor has 368 wins since 2010-11 by at least 10 points.
Baylor started Jada Walker, Sarah Andrews, Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Aaronette Vonleh and Bella Fontleroy.
- Walker is 27-8, Andrews is 72-29, Littlepage-Buggs is 39-15, Fontleroy is 22-10 and Vonleh is 1-0 as starters at Baylor.
The first players off the bench in 2024-25 was Jada Van Gytenbeek, Kyla Abraham and Yaya Felder.
Despite shooting 39% - and 1-of-7 from 3-point range – the Bears held a 17-10 lead after the first quarter.
A 7-0 run gave BU its first double-digit lead of the game at 24-12 midway through the second quarter.
Waiata Jennings made her Baylor debut in the second quarter.
The Bears held a 38-19 lead at the break, shooting 42% (14-for-33), while holding UIW to 38% on just eight made buckets. Baylor held a 20-11 margin in rebounding, including an 8-1 mark on the offensive glass.
Jana Van Gytenbeek scored in double figures for the 12^th time in her career.
Van Gytenbeek had 10 points, five assists and two rebounds in 16 minutes, connecting on 2-of-5 triples.
The lead grew to 30 for the first time at 56-26 late in the third quarter.
Baylor outscored UIW 26-9 in the third quarter, shooting 66.7% from the field (10-for-15) during the period.
Bella Fontleroy had a career high 14 rebounds, eclipsing her previous career best of 11, done four times, including vs. Vanderbilt in 2023-24.
Fontleroy has scored in double figures in 35 career games and has had double-digit rebounds in seven games.
Fontleroy had nine points and 14 rebounds in 27 minutes.
Kyla Abraham tied her career high with two blocks.
Jada Walker finished with six points and tied her career high with 10 assists, last done vs. Coastal Carolina while a member of the Kentucky Women's Hoops team.
It was the most assists for a Baylor player since Andrews had 10 vs. UCF on Jan. 20, 2024.
The Bears held UIW to five points in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Cards, 21-5.
Baylor shot 48% in the win, on 31-of-65 shooting, and held UIW to just 13 made buckets.
Baylor had 22 assists, held a 36-14 margin in points in the paint, a 13-0 margin in second-chance points and totaled 14 steals, its most since going for 15 swipes vs. Kansas State in 2023-24.
The Bears outrebounded UIW, 47-22, including 15-4 on the offensive glass.
Baylor returns to action on Sunday, traveling to face Oregon in Eugene at 9 p.m. on Big Ten Network and the Baylor Sports Media Network.